We are excited to announce the launch of the O-REMIT project that has been funded by the Belgian Government and implemented by partners; The International Organization for Migration (IOM)- Belgium and Luxembourg, Ondernemers voor Ondernemers vzw(OVO), Nationale Bank van België and ZidiCircle.
This project aims to offer cost-effective alternatives for remittances and opportunities for investment of savings by tracking diaspora remittance flows from Belgium into Morocco, Senegal, and the DRC, creating awareness among remit senders and receivers on these corridors on remittance options, and offering opportunities for diaspora in these corridors to convert some of the remittances into investments through the Venture backers programme that trains aspiring diaspora angel investors on angel investing.
Zidicircle will train diaspora from Morocco, Senegal, and the DRC living in Belgium on how to start functioning as angel investors and connect them to investor-ready SMEs in the three countries. We are excited about this opportunity and look forward to collaborations that extend this important work on remittances, diaspora investments, and supporting Small and Medium Entreprises (SMEs) in Africa.
Zidicircle will further connect the trained diaspora angel investors to selected investor ready SME’s in Morocco, DRC and Senegal. Through the 8 weeks programme, the diaspora investors will receive tools to become confident and start functioning as venture backers who invest collectively thus minimizing the risk.
The programme will entail;
- In-depth bootcamp covering Angel l investing basics
- One-on-one Mentoring from experienced investors from OVO
- At Least 3 physical meetups in Brussels for a chance to network with peers and investor mentors
- Investing where they assemble their venture backers club and start investing together under our guidance and ecosystem deal pipeline
- Chance to become judges in the country specific SME pitch competition
- Joining the Zidicircle Coop-Diaspora investment vehicle and community to enable them invest
- Access to the Zidicircle Angel investing school online learning platform
Zidicircle leverages on the knowledge and resources of the diaspora and in-country resources to bridge both the capacity and funding gap for diaspora’s and Africa’s small and medium enterprises.
Fridah Ntarangwi, Managing Partner of Zidicircle shares,
”It is such a pleasure to extend the venture backers programme to more countries in Europe and Africa. Many thanks to the Belgian Government for recognizing the African diaspora potential along with their economic power that comes with Remittances and what they can be able to do for both Belgium and Africa. On many occasions IOM has partnered with us on diaspora entrepreneurship and Investments topics, and this moment is particularly important as we are actioning the remittances opportunity towards the Green transition . I look forward to full implementation and sharing the bigger impact of the O-Remit project”.
According to Dorien Deketele, Project manager for O-REMIT project at IOM Belgium Country office,
”There is a lot of untapped potential of diaspora, who often have an urge of giving back and who are uniquely placed to contribute to what was once their home country. Managing migration can be a very positive story with a win-win for all parties involved including the migrant, the home and host country”.
SME’s in the Green Sectors
This project will target SME’s in the Green economy sectors such as Food and Agriculture, Renewable energy, Water Sanitation and Health (WASH). Manufacturing and digital solutions supporting the Green economy will also be considered.
Morocco cohort
The first group of aspiring diaspora angel investors will be Moroccan diaspora members residing in Belgium and willing to invest in SMEs in their country of origin.
The training by Zidicircle will give the selected diaspora investors an opportunity to participate in entrepreneurship as angel investors and advisors even though they are not running the businesses themselves. They are also able to promote community capital so that more entrepreneurs can access capital and grow their businesses either nationally or internationally.
The Senegal diaspora investor angel investing programme will follow in Autum 2023 and DRC will be covered in the Spring of 2024.
You can apply for the Morocco programme set to beginning on in June 6th to 4th July 2023 here
As always, we remain committed to our mission of catalysing diaspora driven development through entrepreneurship and investments in Europe and Africa.
Any comments or correspondent please email o-remit@zidicircle.com
Partners
The Belgian government is the sponsor for the O-REMIT project, with as goal to create a more meaningful insight on the remittance flows and the different forms under which remittances leave Belgium.
Established in 1951, IOM is the leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.
OVO strengthens sustainable entrepreneurship in Africa. They select, guide, finance and monitor African businesses and organizations to help them achieve their goals.
The NBB is the prudential supervisor of the Belgian financial sector and functions as the central bank. Moreover, NBB provides data sources and meaningful insights on banking behaviour in Belgium.
The Zidicircle Coop is a Diaspora Investments special purpose vehicle that enters into investment agreements with start-ups or small and medium-sized businesses as an investor for and on behalf of the venture backer who have decided to invest in the business concerned. The beneficial ownership from those investments lies with the investors. The investment vehicle was initiated by an organised group of diaspora individuals from Zidi B. V’s Venture Backers programme and other professionals, entrepreneurs and like-minded international angel investors who want to reduce the knowledge, resources and funding gap for startups and small and medium businesses founded by underserved entrepreneurs who are driven by a positive impact on the environment, society and support the sustainable development goals (SDG’s)
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